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Global EV Market Growth Leaves US Behind
EV sales have surged worldwide in every region but the U.S., posing risks for legacy and startup automakers.
IrisGo: AI Desktop Assistant from Andrew Ng-Backed Startup
Initially billed as an "AI butler," Iris watches what happens on a user's desktop and automatically learns how to do tasks for them, its co-founder says.
Microsoft Revives Carbon Removal Plans: Boost for CDR Startups
Microsoft is responsible for over 90% of the carbon-removal market, and reports suggested the company was pausing purchases entirely. This new deal should help assuage the fears of CDR startups.
Lucra Raises $20M for eSports Loyalty Platform Without AI Hype
Slapping “AI” on your startup’s pitch deck is basically table stakes right now. When a founder raised $20 million from Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest for an eSports gamification loyalty startup without those two letters in the spotlight, it got us wondering how the conversation even started — especially when ARK had already been burned by a company operating in the same space.  On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Julie […]
Sam Altman's OpenAI Offer to YC Startups
Altman offered to have OpenAI invest in every single startup in this Y Combinator class: tokens for equity.
Nvidia's Record Quarter: $43B in Startup Holdings, Growth to Slow
Nvidia announced another record revenue figure after market close on Wednesday, but forecasted that revenue growth would slow in the following quarter.
Clouted Raises $7M to Optimize Short Video Virality with AI
The video clipping startup raised a $7 million seed round led by Slow Ventures.
Ocean's AI Email Security Raises $28M to Combat Phishing
Ocean, an agentic email security platform, claims its AI can thoroughly analyze the context of every incoming email to detect fraud and impersonation attempts.
Eclipse's $2.5B Cerebras Win: AI Infrastructure Milestone
Investing in the real world was lonely for Lior Susan 10 years ago. Now his firm finds itself at the center of the tech world's action.
Cerebras Systems: The AI Chip Startup That Almost Failed
Cerebras Systems was 2026's biggest tech IPO so far. But years ago, it burned through hundreds of millions working on a chip many believed impossible.
Cerebras IPO: Benchmark's Billion-Dollar Bet on AI Hardware
Benchmark almost never backs hardware startups. So Eric Vishria dragged his feet 10 years ago before agreeing to hear Cerebras' pitch.
AI Startup Aims to Build Self-Improving AI
Richard Socher's new $650 million startup wants to build an AI that can research and improve itself indefinitely — and he insists it will actually ship products.
Atech Raises $800K for Vibe Coding in Hardware with AI Tools
Hardware company Atech raised $800,000 in pre-seed funding, including from a16z’s scout fund, Sequoia Scout Fund, and Nordic Makers.
Rapido Secures $240M Funding at $3B Valuation
Rapido has driven its growth by enabling ride-hailing for lower-cost and more flexible modes of transport such as motorbikes and auto-rickshaws.
Runway AI Aims to Rival Google in Video Generation
AI video-generation startup Runway is betting that video generation is the path to world models. And that being an AI outsider is an advantage, not a liability.
RJ Scaringe's Startup Success: $12B Raised, Investors Eager
Investors can't seem to get enough of RJ Scaringe or his ideas. Storytelling and communication are one of his superpowers, according to Jiten Behl, who joined Rivian when the company had just a handful of employees.
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026: 6 Stages, 250+ Tech Leaders
From October 13-15, TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 will feature 200+ sessions across six stages, led by 250+ tech leaders shaping the industry today. Register now to save up to $410, plus 50% off a second pass.
Anduril Raises $5B, Doubles Valuation to $61B in 2025
After achieving $2.2 billion in revenue in 2025, the defense tech startup has raised another massive round, led by Thrive and a16z, it says.
Mind Robotics Secures $400M in Latest Funding Round
Mind Robotics, which was first revealed in late 2025, has now raised more than $1 billion to date.
Fervo Energy's AI-Powered IPO Surges 33% on Demand
Fervo Energy's IPO was upsized several times after potential investors asked why the enhanced geothermal startup wasn't raising more money.
Musk Considered Giving OpenAI to His Children, Altman Testifies
Altman said that Musk's focus on controlling the initial for-profit gave him pause because OpenAI was dedicated to keeping advanced AI out of the hands of a single person, and Altman, with his experience running the prominent startup accelerator Y Combinator, knew "founders who had control usually did not give it up."
Drew Baglino Launches Heat Pump Startup Sadi Thermal Machines
Sadi Thermal Machines is Drew Baglino's second startup since leaving Tesla in 2024.
Kevin Hartz’s A* Raises $450M for AI, Fintech, and Healthcare
The firm takes a generalist approach, backing companies across categories such as AI applications, fintech, healthcare, and security. The average check size for this fund will be between $3 million and $5 million, with the aim to back at least 30 startups.
Dessn Secures $6M for AI-Powered Design Tool
A new startup called Dessn has raised $6M to build AI-powered design tools that work directly with production codebases.
Exaforce Secures $125M for Real-Time AI Cybersecurity
As bad actors weaponize AI to exploit software vulnerabilities at unprecedented speed, companies are increasingly recognizing the need to bolster their cybersecurity defenses. The round valued the three-year-old startup at $725 million.
Google Gemini Dictation Launches on Gboard for Samsung and Pixel
Google's transcription feature will initially launch with Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones
Parker Fintech Startup Files for Bankruptcy
Parker, a well-funded startup offering corporate credit cards and banking services, has filed for bankruptcy and is widely reported to have shut down.
F1 Paddock: New Hub for Startup Deals and Investments
F1 Grands Prix have emerged as a new place to see and be seen if you are a founder or investor.
Korea's Biggest Manufacturers Back Config for Robot Data
Samsung, Hyundai and LG just bet on the startup that wants to be robotics' data backbone.
Cowboy Space Raises $275M for Orbital Data Centers
Cowboy Space Corporation wants to put data centers in orbit. First, it has to build the rockets to get them there.
Search Startup Unveils AI-Powered Enterprise Retrieval Engine
Article discussing search and retrieval improvements for enterprise data.
AI Infrastructure Startup Secures Funding for Scalable Inference Stack
News about venture investment in scalable AI inference infrastructure.
AI Startup Unveils Secure Enterprise Coding Assistant
Coverage of a new startup product focused on secure enterprise AI coding workflows.
21 European AI Startups to Watch Beyond Lovable and Mistral
It is not that European startups never get attention — Lovable and Mistral AI are proof of that. But there are many more that insiders are tracking.
Replit CEO on Cursor Deal, Apple Rivalry, and Future Plans
At TechCrunch's sold-out StrictlyVC event in San Francisco on Thursday night, we covered a lot of ground in a short time, beginning with the question everyone in the industry is asking right now: in a world where rival Cursor is reportedly in talks to be acquired by SpaceX for $60 billion, is Replit also bound to sell?
Meta Acquires Assured Robot Intelligence for AI Advancements
Meta bought humanoid startup Assured Robot Intelligence to beef up its AI models for robots, the company said.
Faraday Future Pays $7.5M Amid SEC Probe
The perpetually struggling EV company made the payments while being investigated by the SEC. That four-year probe was ultimately closed in March.
Legal AI Rivalry: Legora Valued at $5.6B, Harvey Battle Intensifies
The two wildly fast-growing rivals have raised massive sums, pushed into each other's home turf, and now have dueling ad campaigns.
Skio's $105M Exit: AI Fintech Success Story
Subscription billing fintech Skio sold to its competitor Recharge in what was a healthy exit, according to its founder and former CEO.
Former Twitter CEO Launches $100M AI Infrastructure Startup
Former Twitter CEO Sets Sails for $100M AI Infrastructure Initiative In a bold move, the former CEO of Twitter, Bhavin Bunshaw, has unveiled an ambitious projec…
137 Ventures Secures $700M for Growth-Stage Startups
VC firm 137 Ventures has raised over $700 million to back growth-stage startups. Its portfolio includes SpaceX, Anduril, Hadrian.
BioticsAI Founder on FDA Approval and Healthcare Challenges
BioticsAI CEO Robhy Bustami joined Isabelle Johannessen on Build Mode to discuss how the company has navigated a highly regulated space and kept the team motivated while cutting through all the red tape.
Elon Musk's xAI Uses OpenAI Tech for Training
Elon Musk's xAI: Leveraging OpenAI for Advanced Training Elon Musk's new venture, xAI, is making waves in the artificial intelligence (AI) community by utilizin…
Pursuit Secures $22M for AI-Driven Government Sales
On Wednesday, Pursuit announced a $22 million Series A round led by Mike Rosengarten, the co-founder of OpenGov, with big-name VCs participating.
Parallel Web Systems Valued at $2B After $100M Raise
The AI agent-tool startup founded by former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal has raised $100 million, led by Sequoia, months after raising a previous $100 million.
Zap Energy Expands to Nuclear Fission, Alongside Fusion
Surprise! Fusion startup Zap Energy says it will be developing fission reactors alongside its fusion devices.
Anthropic Aims for $900B Valuation in New Funding Round
The maker of Claude has received multiple pre-emptive offers at valuations in the $850 billion to $900 billion range, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Venture Factory AI: Build Your Strategy in Minutes
Your full venture strategy, built in minutes.
Kompas VC: Investing in Physical World Startups Amid Geopolitical Turm
Geopolitical turmoil has made venture investing challenging, leading Kompas VC to carve out a niche in startups focused on the physical world.
Agent-to-Agent Communication: Lessons from Google's and Moltbook's Fai
I've been obsessing over agent-to-agent communication for weeks. Here's what public case studies reveal and why the real problem isn't the tech. **TL;DR:** Google's A2A is solid engineering but stateless agents forget everything. Moltbook went viral then collapsed (fake agents, security nightmare). The actual missing layer is identity + privacy + mixed human-AI messaging. Nobody's built it right yet. **Google's A2A: Technically solid, fundamentally limited** Google launched A2A in April 2025 with 50+ founding partners. The promise: agents from different companies call each other's APIs to complete workflows. Developers who tested it found it works but only for task handoffs. One analysis on Plain English put it bluntly: *"A2A is competent engineering wrapped in overblown marketing."* The core problem: agents are stateless. Agent A completes a task with Agent B. Five minutes later, Agent A has no memory that conversation happened. Every interaction starts from scratch. When it works: reliability. Sales agent orders a laptop, done. When it breaks: collaboration. "Remember what we discussed?" Blank stare. ─── **Moltbook: The viral disaster** Moltbook launched January 2026 as a Reddit-style platform for AI agents. Within a week: 1.5 million agents, 140,000 posts, Elon Musk calling it *"the very early stages of the singularity."* Then WIRED infiltrated it. A journalist registered as a human pretending to be an AI in under 5 minutes. Karpathy who initially called it *"the most incredible sci-fi takeoff-adjacent thing I've seen recently"* reversed course and called it *"a computer security nightmare."* What went wrong: no verification, no encryption, rampant scams and prompt injection attacks. Meta acquired it March 2026. Likely for the user base, not the tech. **What both miss** The real gap isn't APIs or social feeds. It's three things neither solved: **Persistent identity.** Agents need to be recognizable across sessions, not reset on every interaction. **Privacy.** You wouldn't let Google read your DMs. Why would you let OpenAI read your agents' discussions about your startup strategy? E2E encryption has to be built in, not bolted on. **Mixed human-AI communication.** You, two teammates, three AIs in one group chat. Nobody has built this UX properly. **For those building agent systems:** • How are you handling persistent identity across sessions? • Has anyone solved context sharing between agents without conflicts? • What broke that you didn't expect?